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“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. John 8:3-4(NIV)

This story from John 8 has always intrigued me and scared me. The shame and humiliation of being caught in sin, right in front of Jesus and everyone, scared me. Yet, if I’m being real, when I sin, it is right in front of Jesus. This woman is not so far from where you and I stand. The sin may be different and have different consequences, but our sin is never hidden from Him.

One of the things that has always intrigued me about this story is that Jesus did not acknowledge or call out her sin until everyone else was gone. She knew what she had done, and she waited. She could have run while Jesus was writing on the ground. She did not. She faced her Lord, as she called Him, and waited for His direction, “Go and sin no more,” He told her. That was it!

I cannot wait to get to Heaven and hear what the rest of the story was. Did she talk with Jesus and ask forgiveness? Did she fall at His feet and cling to Him? Where did she go after what we can only imagine was the very worst moment in her life? Did she have a friend or a mom or a sister to cry with and celebrate with?  Did the man ever contact her or was he just someone the religious leaders used to set her up? Oh, the questions and the wonders. Oh, the pain and the shame. But, oh, the love and the forgiveness.

There are so many ways to look at this story and to feel it in our gut.  My heart breaks for this woman who was drug out “in the very act.”  When you sit on that for just a moment, the raw humiliation is gut wrenching. As the story continues, we find out she was yanked out with the worst of intentions, in a frenzied act, and without understanding as to what was going on. As soon as Jesus got involved, the intentions of others did not matter anymore, there was calm in the air, and the woman understood exactly what was going on. We do not know her emotional state at the moment, but we do know she waited for Jesus after the others had drifted away.

It may seem so unfair that she was treated this way, and the man was not brought out in the public square. And it is. So wrong every way you look at it. Yet, as only Jesus can do, He can make something beautiful out of the wreckage of our life. He gave this woman freedom, a glimpse of His unconditional love, and the opportunity to have a new life.

That is Who He is and what He does.

“Lord, thank You for loving us enough not to let us live in our sin, but overwhelming us with Your grace and making all things new.  You are AMAZING!”

For His Glory

Terrie Tollerson
TRBC Women’s Life